With Anduril’s help, Australia has accomplished what the U.S. Navy has struggled to achieve: transitioning an extra-large undersea drone from the drawing board to a contract in just three years. Anduril announced that a fleet of its XL uncrewed undersea vehicle, the Ghost Shark, will begin operations in Australian waters next year under a substantial contract worth AUS$1.7 billion.
The five-year award structure represents a defense startup’s ultimate goal. It is a program of record that essentially guarantees recurring revenue by becoming a permanent line item in the country’s defense budget. The contract for the platform, which provides long-range, stealthy surveillance and strike operations, covers delivery, maintenance, and continued development. This also reflects the political urgency in Australia to field new capabilities in the Indo-Pacific to deter the rising threat from China.
According to Anduril President Chris Brose, this achievement comes down to seriousness, imagination, and the will to conceive a new idea and bring it to fruition. He noted that Australia has fewer people, less money, and similar bureaucratic challenges to the U.S. Pentagon, yet it has been able to accomplish this rapid development. The contrast with the United States is stark. The only comparable XLUUV under U.S. development, Boeing’s Orca, is years behind schedule. In comparison, Anduril and Australia co-developed and jointly funded Ghost Shark in 2022, with each contributing $50 million. The first prototype was delivered in April 2024, twelve months ahead of schedule, and production has already begun.
The program presents a new model for defense procurement. Anduril invested some of its own capital to de-risk Australia’s otherwise rapid acquisition timeline. Anduril is not stopping with Australia. A senior vice president of maritime programs stated that the Ghost Shark can be rapidly configured for missions within a country, allowing governments to plug in their own payload modules as needed. Anduril has already produced a U.S. payload being tested off the California coast and has established a large factory in Rhode Island to produce Ghost Sharks in the U.S. if a contract materializes.
Brose stated that the United States has had an XLUUV program struggling for the better part of a decade. He said the U.S. has spent significantly more money on its program than the Australian government and Anduril spent developing Ghost Shark, yet it is further behind. He claims Anduril’s solution has spent more time testing in the water, can work across more missions, is more ready to deliver at scale, and will do so at a lower price.
For Australia, the urgency is clear. It is the largest island nation with a small population and proximity to Western adversaries. Chief among them is China, which has rapidly expanded its navy and pushed its ships deeper into the Pacific, including conducting provocative drills off the coast of Australia. That pressure has made the Ghost Shark a compelling solution.